


Retired (But Not Weakened)

by Poker



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: But is still a very good thief and criminal, Charles love his husband and Henry loves him back, Ellie is here for cookies and slightly legal crime, Fluff, Henry retires to marry Charles before the game, Humor, M/M, Romance, Selectively Mute Henry Stickmin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:48:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26245957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poker/pseuds/Poker
Summary: Before he robbed the bank, Henry chose Charles. And he never regrets it, even now that he’s retired from crime and playing the civilian husband who works in security.Apparently he plays the civilian husband too well, because his and Charles’ work has a way of sneaking in.
Relationships: Charles Calvin/Henry Stickmin
Comments: 18
Kudos: 533





	Retired (But Not Weakened)

**Author's Note:**

> Henry and Charles being cute is my jam.

In Henry’s admittedly not very good defense, he had meant to end it before it got this far.

The relationship was meant to be one night of fun until Henry got distracted and had a few more drinks then he meant to. Charles had carried him to his apartment and spent the night making sure Henry didn’t do anything stupid. That deserved a coffee date, right? One coffee date became a movie date that became an escape room date that ended with them permanently banned from escape rooms.

That was the first time Henry kissed Charles. Charles had turned to him, eyes shining under the streetlights. And Henry knew he had lost to a far better thief. One who stole his heart.

He drunkenly described this to Charles two days afterwards and melted when Charles pressed his head against Henry’s shoulder, promising to take good care of it. And then saying that Henry had already stolen his heart so really it was more of a trade. That was their second kiss.

A year later, sitting in their shared apartment while Charles got ready for bed, he couldn’t find himself regretting any of it.

“Help me sort through these.” Henry said, flopping onto their bed. Charles looked up from unbuttoning his jacket.

“Henry, we have a deal. I don’t help too much in your work.” He said. But he walked over anyways, settling next to Henry. “Whatcha looking at anyways?”

He froze when he saw the screen. 

“I- uh. Technically do have a degree in it.” Henry said, drumming his fingers against the laptop. “And quite a bit of experience. Thought that maybe I should go legal. If we’re going to be serious.”

The degree itself was because of a very nice judge who really didn’t want to send a ‘smart young man’ to jail. Henry had been bored as hell taking classes at the community college, but now it was actually useful. Security consultant was a good field.

“You don’t have to give it up.” Charles said, his voice sounding a bit wobbly. “I know how much you love it.”

“I love you more.” Henry said. “I always did. And I want to support you without the risk of getting sent to jail and messing up both of our lives.”

Past Henry was right, love really did change you. Henry wasn’t just looking out for himself anymore. If Charles was going to be loyal to him, then he was going to be loyal to Charles.

What did he really have to lose? He had that jewelry store heist in two months, the bank heist in six. Interesting, but not worth jail over. Not worth losing Charles.

“I think this means I have to ask you to marry me.” Charles said. “Scooch over so I can kiss you properly.”

“I’m not going to argue with that.” Henry said, moving over so Charles could kiss him.

And so Henry the thief pulled some strings, very quietly retired and became Henry Stickmin-Calvin. It was both easier and harder than he thought it would be. Security work was good. He could work backwards by planning a break in and then preventing his plan.

It wasn’t quite as good as a real heist but it took the edge off. Charles had nodded when Henry told him this.

“I can teach you to fly a helicopter.” He said, practically bouncing in place. “That’ll be fun! I can’t wait to show you how to do this one really awesome trick.”

“Okay.” Henry said. “But in return, I’m going to teach you how to pick locks.”

“Okay, deal!” Charles said, pressing a kiss against Henry’s forehead. “It’ll probably be useful at some point.”

Charles was right though, flying a helicopter was fun. And Henry felt a lot better that Charles could escape most restraints now.

Good enough that when a gang broke into his house, Henry didn’t even call the police after stealing all of their weapons and tying them to chairs.

 _”What did we learn not to do?_ Henry held up the piece of paper.

“Break into a house without proper assessment of the situation.” The three gang members recited. They had not been expecting the small security consultant to put up such a massive fight for the bank plans.

 _”Good.”_ Henry wrote. _”Now get out and stay out. I’ve got to get my cupcakes out of the oven.”_

He untied the ropes, herding them out the door right as Charles came down the sidewalk. The gang members pressed themselves to the garden wall to get past without touching him.

“You’re home.” Henry said, pulling him in for a kiss. Charles pulled away after a few moments, glancing back down the sidewalk.

“What kind of day did you have?” Charles asked, smiling at him.

“I’ll tell you after I get my cupcakes out of the oven.” Henry said. He got bored working from home sometimes. Baking was apparently an acceptable hobby that was not crime.

“Blueberry?!”

“Of course. It’s the best flavor. Other than strawberry.” Henry said. Charles looked horrified.

“I’ve married a heathen.” He hissed. “How did I not know this about you. Almost two years together and you were hiding this from me?”

Henry wheezed with laughter as he closed the door. “I was a criminal when we first met.”

“Well, yeah, but liking strawberry cupcakes? That’s just messed up.” Charles said. “I’m not sure if our marriage can recover from this betrayal.”

“Does this mean I’m sleeping on the couch tonight?” Henry said, pulling the cupcakes out and setting them to cool on the counter. 

Charles swept Henry into a hug. “God no. I’d miss you too much. I forgive you even if you like strawberry cupcakes.”

“Good. Now come help me sort out the weapons I stole off those guys.”

“Couldn’t you have just given them back?”

“Finders keepers, losers weepers. They broke into our house.”

* * *

“They want to send you where?” Henry said. He’d sign, but at this point he was so freaked out that his signing would be almost incomprehensible.

“It’s just one of the Toppat bases.” Charles said, soothingly. He pulled Henry into his lap, wrapping him up in a hug. “In and out to get some files on their next heist. It’s important. We’d go after their airship files, but the General couldn’t possibly clear that mission.”

“And dangerous.” Henry said. “Even I wouldn’t have gone after the Toppats, minor base or no. Especially with no backup. Aren’t there easier marks?”

“Maybe, but we could only find enough information for one of the bases. I’ll be back in time for date night.” Charles said. He rested his head on Henry’s shoulder. “Promise.”

“You’re risking missing date night?” Henry hissed. That was not going to fly. It had taken forever to find an escape room that didn’t ban them on sight. “What about our lessons?”

“I promise I’ll be back.” Charles said. “It’s just, the best time for a government drop is the night before. So. Yeah. I’ll do my best!”

Henry tucked his face into Charles’ shoulder, not answering. Two weeks from now.

Yeah, Henry could pull off a heist in that timeframe.

It was a personal record actually, three days to plan the heist. Henry happily waved Charles goodbye as he headed to night shift. Two minutes later found him on the train heading for a small town two hours away.

The base was just a quick overnight safe house but a bit of prodding by Henry and he found out one of the heist agents were staying there. It was risky, but doable.

With a gravity reverse, cherry bomb, and glue, the heist was an absolute breeze! Granted, all of their cars were now on fire, but Henry didn’t feel bad about that at all.

Date night was more important!

Henry really considered leaving his business card when he broke into the military base. It was _sad_ , okay? He roof hopped to avoid two patrols and used a grappling gun to get through into the general’s unoccupied office. Easy.

In the end, he decided against the card, just leaving the files on the desk.

Two heists in one night. Henry was feeling pretty good. He was going to be celebrating with strawberry waffles for breakfast.

He was just taking the last of his waffles out of the waffle maker when his phone rang. Henry smiled when he saw it was Charles, clicking the answer button.

“Henry.” Charles said. “Please tell me you did not break into a Toppat base so I wouldn’t miss date night.”

“...made strawberry waffles for breakfast. See you at home.” Henry said softly. “Want blueberry?”

“Yes, I do! Wait. No, backup and answer the question!”

Henry pulled the rest of the waffle batter over to himself, taking the blueberries out of the fridge. “You love me.” He said. “Get home safely.”

“I do.” Charles said. “I really really do. But don’t do that to me again! Are you hurt?”

“Nope.” Henry said. “I even got a nice chunk of gold out of it.”

“Henry. Please tell me that’s a joke.” Henry didn’t answer. “You and your shiny tendencies. Be more careful?”

“Okay.” Henry agreed. The gold was technically stolen anyways, and not exactly a high quality chunk either. Henry just couldn’t resist the shininess. If you steal something that’s stolen, doesn’t that cancel out?

“Right, I’m gonna let you go. Might be working a little late today.” Charles said. “Love you!”

“Love you too.” Henry said. He clicked the end call button, humming as he set his phone down. Date night was secure now.

Granted, the general looked really suspicious the next time Henry had to come on base to give something to Charles. 

“So this is the infamous husband, I assume?” Henry and Charles turned to look at Galeforce. “I don’t think we’ve met before.”

 _”Nope.”_ Henry signed. _”Charles has told me a lot about you though.”_

“You know your way around the base pretty well.”

 _”I got directions.”_ Henry said. He refused to flinch. They had absolutely no evidence to connect to him. Henry had gone over everything with a fine tooth comb to make sure of that.

Was it just his imagination or did the general smile a little? “Well.” He said. “Good to see you boys getting along so well. Hope you have a good time on your date night.”

Charles coughed. “We definitely will, sir.”

“And next time, just tell your husband to call ahead. I trust that he knows what I mean by that.”

Henry definitely did and was definitely considering abusing that next time the government risked date night. Charles wisely chose to kiss his husband to distract him.

But it looked like Henry wouldn’t even get the chance. Two weeks afterwards as Henry worked on the next job, his phone dinged with a text.

His mood lifted instantly as he grabbed for the phone. Charles was out for a mission right now! Was he texting already?

**“Henry? You remember how you owe me a favor?”**

**“Yeah. From my retirement.”** Henry typed. He had always had good feelings towards Ellie. She had been happy to sell the lie of his disappearance in return for a favor and Henry’s contacts. **“What’s going on?”**

**“Bad job. The Wall is after me. I’m not sure what you can do, but I would take just about anything right now to keep from going away with those jerks.”**

Henry facepalmed. **”How close are they to you? Are you sure?”**

**”Skipped town five times. They showed up five times. Currently on the move, but they’re definitely tracking me.”**

Two birds, one stone? **”Willing to work with the government?**

**”Better than prison, I guess.”**

Henry set his work aside, running a hand through his hair. Great. Fantastic. He could work with this. He pulled up a number he only kept in case of emergencies.

**”Hypothetically, if I could put you in contact with someone to carry out your covert ops, and all it would take was a pardon, what would you say?”**

**”Depending on why they need the pardon.”**

**“Breaking and entering. Stealing. The usual.”**

**“They’d have to run a mission first. See if they’re worth it.”**

**“They are. Here’s the number.”**

**…**

**...**

**“Okay.”**

Was it risky as hell? Yes. But Henry lived for risks like this. Especially risks that would hopefully keep his husband from doing the missions himself.

He pulled his work back over, double checking to make sure the new security guard was effectively failure proof by now. He liked Dave. Dave gave him a challenge to plan around.

Wait. Henry blinked.

Did the general think he was asking for himself?

He regretted the deal as soon as he opened the door and Ellie tackled him in a hug. Charles snickered from his place on the porch.

“You’re an absolute lifesaver.” Ellie said, pulling away. “Here, go hug your husband so we can fill you in on all the cool stuff that you missed when you’re done being mushy.”

 _”Hi Ellie.”_ Henry signed before diving in to hug his husband. 

“Thanks for the new partner!” Charles said, returning the hug. “The General is still working things out, but Ellie’s going to be joining me from now on. It was a bit of a close call with the prison though.”

“I’ll say.” Ellie said, swiping a cookie from the jar. “I had to jump off the building to grab onto the helicopter ladder because you didn’t even have enough time to land.”

 _”They did WHAT.”_ Henry signed. Charles laughed, kissing him on the cheek.

“It’s fine, really! I had a great time and now we’re going to be a Triple Threat.” Charles said. “Me, you, and Ellie.”

“I work for cookies.” Ellie said, through a mouthful. “And government pardons for my many crimes and many slightly-more-legal crimes in the future.”

“There’s cupcakes in the kitchen.” Henry said softly. He could respect that bargain. Ellie beamed, beelining towards the cupcakes.

“I made the best decision ever.” She declared. Henry rolled his eyes, pulling Charles back in for another kiss.

* * *

_Charles is going to be so worried_ , was Henry’s first thought when he woke up in a cell. His second was, _and Ellie is going to tease me for months._

He had gone in for a late night check of security protocols for a museum. Hopped off his scooter in the parking garage and then… nothing. 

Henry opened his eyes, looking around. Judging by the slight humming underneath his feet, he was onboard an airship. Likely the airship. He sat back, checking his coat.

First things first. They probably didn’t know he was the one who hit their safehouses because he’d be getting interrogated right now. Which meant he was probably being used as an example against Charles and Ellie.

Henry took a moment to feel very offended at that. How dare they! He could burn this airship to the ground!

Second. They forgot to check his coat lining for lockpicks. He grinned.

The poor guard never even saw Henry coming.

Henry took the first hallway to the left. He’d make it to the escape pods eventually, what mattered was the sheer chaos of getting there!

“ATTENTION. ONE OF THE PRISONERS HAS GOTTEN LOOSE. IF YOU SEE THEM, APPREHEND THEM IMMEDIATELY.”

Like Henry would let them. He sidestepped a member walking around the corner, yanking their hat down over their eyes before continuing forward.

Okay, maybe he should head straight for the escape pods. Because Charles would be very worried if he didn’t get home soon. 

Henry hummed, pulling the fire alarm as he ran past. Worth it.

He didn’t find the escape pod bay, but he did find a giant hole in the floor. Henry sauntered over to the center of the catwalk, looking over the edge.

Wow. That’s pretty far. He’d likely have a hard time surviving that.

“So you’re the one mucking things up.” Henry looked up, getting into a defensive stance.

Right Hand Man glared at him, standing at the other side of the pit. The rushing wind was so loud, it nearly drowned out his next comment.

“You should have stayed in your cell.”

 _”You should have done research on who you were kidnapping.”_ Henry signed. Was that noise what he thought it was? Oh, yes. _”I’ll just see myself out.”_

“The hell are you talking about? Ya got nowhere ta run.” The man said. Henry glanced back, seeing the Toppat mob that was forming where he just came from

Henry flashed the man a peace sign.

 _”See ya late alligator.”_ And then he jumped over the edge.

Henry had a brief moment of thinking how stupid this idea was.

And then someone grabbed the back of his jacket and he was pulled into a helicopter. The gentle whirr of blades started again as Henry looked up at Ellie’s beaming face.

“That was awesome!” She yelled. “We came to rescue you, but it looked like you had yourself pretty well handled.”

“They were expecting a civilian husband, not me.” Henry said. He brushed himself off, wincing at the ache in his shoulders. He was so going to cuddle Charles later to make up for it.

“Everyone get strapped in.” Charles called back to them. “They’re probably going to get their targeting system online soon. And Henry?”

Henry looked up from where he was sitting down.

“I love you. I’m glad you’re safe.”

“I love you too. Told you I’d do anything to stay with you.”

“Is there another helicopter I can hitch a ride on because I can’t handle the amount of sugar in the air here.”

**Author's Note:**

> Henry definitely gets a new threat level in the Toppat files and he is Pleased. He also moves to working with Ellie and Charles on a consultant basis, much like the original Triple Threat which pleases him even more.
> 
> If you enjoyed this please leave kudos, a bookmark, or a review! I love seeing them.


End file.
